At around 1 pm on 24 January, members of the Ahrar al-Sharqiya mercenary group, linked to the invading Turkish state, murdered 30-year-old Cemile Ehmed Elmusa and 45-year-old Xadice Ehmed El Musa.

The two women, two sisters, had refused to leave their house in the village of Rawiyê in Serêkaniyê.

Hasan Ehmed El Musa, the brother of the women belonging to an Arab tribe called Rudahir, known as "Maxmuri" in Rojava, spoke to ANF about the murders.

Hasan Ehmed El Musa, who is currently living in Raqqa, said that he was told by neighbors that they had heard gun shot fired by Turkish-backed mercenaries in occupied Serekaniyê and in his village, Rawiyê. "That day, our neighbors heard gunshots coming from our house. They went there and saw a motorcycle used by Ahmet Ömer Abdullah from the Abu Jammu battalion in the Ahrar Al Sharqiye Brigade leaving the house. When they arrived to our house, they found my sisters Cemile and Xadice Ehmed on the ground covered in blood."

Stating that Ahmet Ömer Abdullah, who murdered his sisters, was known to people of the region and was formerly a member of ISIS, Hasan Ehmed El Musa added: "The 25-year-old criminal Ahmed El-Abdullah was one of the elements of 'El Hasbah' in the ISIS terrorist organization. 

My sisters were murdered in partnership with ISIS and the Turkish state. Because, as a family, we support the unity among the peoples of the region and the SDF."

Hasan Ehmed El Musa said that they were repeatedly threatened by Ömer Al Abdullah after the occupation of Serêkaniyê carried out by the Turkish state, and reminded that he was also arrested by this mercenary group.

El Musa added: "After the invasion carried out by Turkey, we did not leave our land for a while. But there was a lot of pressure on us. Eventually, Ömer El Abdullah detained me. I escaped from custody and I fled from Serêkaniyê with my brothers and went to Raqqa."

El Musa continued: "My sisters did not want to leave Serêkaniyê or our village. They wanted to protect our house and land. They thought, "We are women, and we are Arab, they won't do anything to us."

Relatives said that the remains of the murdered Cemile Ehmed El Musa and Xadice Ehmed El Musa were going to be brought to Raqqa on Saturday. Yet, after ANF published the news of the murder of the two sisters, their remains were taken to Turkey. 

El Musa recalled: "We did not need Turkey and its mercenaries. We were happy in our land. We were happy and live in peace under the Democratic Autonomous Administration. They came and occupied our land. They have carried out many human crimes. Human rights institutions around the world should come and see what is going on in our regions under Turkish occupation. They should open an investigation into the crimes against humanity experienced here."

Ahrar al-Sharqiya is a mercenary group of Deir ez-Zor origin and was founded by Abu Marya El Kahtani, when he left the al-Nusra Front in 2016.

The majority of its members first took part in the occupation of Shehba, which the Turkish state called "Euphrates Shield Operation" in 2016, and then participated in the invasion of Afrin.

They joined the 1st Corps of the "National Army" established by the Turkish state in 2019 and joined the occupation targeting Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî on 9 October.

This group, whose members are mostly from ISIS, was carrying out ethnic cleansing in the occupation operations carried out by the Turkish state in Shehba, Afrin, Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî. It is one of the leading groups when it comes to repress people and carry out systematic torture and executions.

Ahrar Al Sharqiya, under the command of the Turkish state, brutally murdered the General Secretary of the Syrian Future Party, Hevrin Halef, on October 12, and had slaughtered various captured YPG members.

The same group has been clashing with the Hamzat mercenary group in Afrin. Some members of this group were sent to Libya last month.